1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to shoulder protection devices in general, and in particular to a shoulder protection device suited to absorb impact forces directed to the shoulder area of a user. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a rifle recoil pad suited to absorb impact forces directed to the shoulder area of a user during the discharge from a shoulder-supported firearm.
2. Description of the Related Art
Repeated use of shoulder-supported firearms, such as shotguns and rifles, can be distressful and often painful for a marksman because of the unavoidable recoil impacts directed to the shoulder area of the marksman. Thus, it is often desirable for a marksman to use some sort of protective padding, such as a recoil pad, to reduce the recoil impacts from a shoulder-supported firearm on the shoulder area. With a recoil pad, a marksman should be able to shoot the shoulder-supported firearm with more comfort.
There are many types of recoil pads intended to reduce the level of recoil impacts directed to the shoulder area. Each type of recoil pad includes a different energy absorbing material that offers a user some means of protection against recoil impacts. The effectiveness of recoil pads typically depends upon the type of absorbing material utilized. Absorbing materials that have been used in recoil pads include felt, hair, leather, hard rubber, and foamed plastic. Firm materials such as leather or hard rubber do not deform very quickly when subjected to a rapidly moving recoil impact. Hence, such materials typically act more like a hard surface, which stop the recoil impact very quickly but also deliver substantial shock onto the shoulder. While foam plastic offers some improvement over the above-mentioned firm materials, foam plastic also exhibits the same xe2x80x9cbottoming outxe2x80x9d behavior eventually. Although the xe2x80x9cbottoming outxe2x80x9d behavior can be reduced by increasing the thickness of foam plastic, larger pad thickness is generally undesirable in terms of its bulkiness. Consequently, it would be desirable to provide an improved recoil pad.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a flexible lightweight rifle recoil pad includes a flexible yoke, an energy-absorbing cushion, and a counter-weight. The flexible yoke, which includes a first end section and a second end section, is sized to fit over a shoulder of a user such that the yoke extends over the top of the shoulder with the first end section positioned on the front of the user""s shoulder and the second end section positioned on the rear of the user""s shoulder. The energy-absorbing cushion is positioned over the yoke adjacent the first end section. The counter-weight is positioned over the yoke adjacent the second end section.